Dream Theater will launch a U.S. tour Friday in Reading, Pennsylvania. It follows the prog metallers’ 2024-25 40th anniversary trek, which marked their first live shows since founding drummer Mike Portnoy returned to the band in 2023.
“We’ve been in the 40th anniversary mode since the tour began last October,” Portnoy tells ABC Audio. “Up until now, we’ve been on the road for almost a year just doing catalog stuff and celebrating the band’s reunion and celebrating the band’s 40th anniversary.”
The upcoming dates, Portnoy teases, will present a “completely different show” from the 40th anniversary performances. For one, Dream Theater has since put out a new album, Parasomnia, their first with Portnoy in 16 years.
“We’ve kind of just been patiently waiting to be able to perform this new music,” Portnoy says. “We’re excited.”
Dream Theater will certainly be performing new music in a big way — they’re playing Parasomnia in full each night on the tour.
“It’s a very cinematic album that kinda needs to be performed from top to bottom with all the sound effects and the scenery … and the spoken word stuff,” Portnoy says. “It’s a very theatrical, cinematic kind of experience, so it’s gonna really translate well to a live presentation.”
Each show will also feature a performance of the song “A Change of Seasons,” which was written in 1989 before being released in 1995.
“It’s a special song for us, but I know it holds a dear place in the fans’ hearts, as well,” Portnoy says of “A Change of Seasons.” “I know for a lot of people it’s their favorite song. It was the first time we ever wrote, like, a 25-minute epic. It’s a real important piece in the Dream Theater catalog.”
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